GPU Recommendation - Props to Nvidia GT 720!

I just wanted to share my positive experience I have had with a new GPU I have been testing for VM pass-through.

If you have seen any of my rantings in the past you will know that I have had plenty of issue with various cards that I was testing.

They wouldn't survive a reboot, it would hard lock my entire server, the VM wouldn't come back up after I shut it down and tried to power it back up, installing of the manufacturer drivers would cause issues, etc....

Now it is possible that my previous cards would have worked with some form of trickery (never did try passing it the rom), but it was frustrating and having to do a parity check after your server locks-up will get the best of most of us.

Onto the good stuff.. This little ~$40 card rocks!...

I've recently purchased the Geforce GT 720, basically the cheapest "new" (it's a rebadge) video card from Nvidia, and it works and works damn well!

Under Windows 8.1 it works great, Kodi accelerates as it should, reboot, powerdown, driver install, all an A+++!.

The beta Openelec within 6.1 works, however I am witnessing audio issues where it will click..click...click.. continuously until reboot... I think this may just be an OE thing, as even on my 2 Pi's I have witnessed this (but not this bad) on the beta versions at times.

Anyway for others who are looking for a GPU to try, and want to avoid the pitfalls some of them can give, I highly recommend picking one up.

I grabbed basically the cheapest one (and it happens to be fanless also!), the MSI 1GB DDR3 Noise Free Edition.

As a lot of you, I wanted the cheapest card that can do video acceleration for a VM for usage as media player.

Of note: I also have to use the ACS Downstream option in order for the GPU to be in it's own c group to pass to a VM.

This has not caused me any issues (I've had this enabled for a while for a NIC and tuner card I pass-through also) that I know of.

Two previous cards that have caused me headaches are an AMD 5450, and a Geforce 210.

If others got these to work, then perfect, I didn't...(yet).

Since I had a defeated attitude at the time, and thought other things could have been the cause, I may go back to troubleshooting these cards again now that I know this can work, and work pretty damn well.

Just wanted to share.

The beta Openelec within 6.1 works, however I am witnessing audio issues where it will click..click...click.. continuously until reboot... I think this may just be an OE thing, as even on my 2 Pi's I have witnessed this (but not this bad) on the beta versions at times.

I have this same problem (but this is not issue of OE, because without KVM works fine)

im still try to resolve this, im tried switch OFF MSI, map EDID, setup alsa etc. - for now nothing help

UPDATE: resolved !!!

create file in config folder of OE

.config/modprobe.d/sound.conf

and put line

options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1

@bungee91 let me know if work for you

im also switch off ACS Downstream - but i dont know if that something change

Enjoy

and +1 for good card, fanless(silent) and low power consumption (only 23w) for GT 730

working with KVM - OpenELEC

btw. i saw soon nvidia release new card

GeForce 720A

GeForce 920A

GeForce 930A

GeForce 940A

Also with low TDP

and +1 for good card, fanless(silent) and low power consumption (only 23w) for GT 730

working with KVM - OpenELEC

I'm also using a GT 730 for OE w/KVM, but I'm running into audio issues. I'm trying to play files which have lossless TrueHD audio bitstreamed to my AVR. I have used OE and Kodi for many years on Windows and Linux and have never had audio issues which I couldn't resolve. My problem is that I'm not getting any sound and my AVR doesn't seem to recognize the HDMI audio stream. And sometimes when I'm going through the Kodi menus the GUI sounds will all of a sudden be continuous. I will try the "enable_msi=1" option, but do you think my symptoms could be due to this?

And sometimes when I'm going through the Kodi menus the GUI sounds will all of a sudden be continuous. I will try the "enable_msi=1" option, but do you think my symptoms could be due to this?

Yes, I experience the same thing "the GUI sounds will all of a sudden be continuous".

The beta Openelec within 6.1 works, however I am witnessing audio issues where it will click..click...click.. continuously until reboot... I think this may just be an OE thing, as even on my 2 Pi's I have witnessed this (but not this bad) on the beta versions at times.

 

I have this same problem (but this is not issue of OE, because without KVM works fine)

im still try to resolve this, im tried switch OFF MSI, map EDID, setup alsa etc. - for now nothing help

 

UPDATE: resolved !!!

create file in config folder of OE

 

.config/modprobe.d/sound.conf

and put line

options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1

@bungee91 let me know if work for you

Haven't had a chance to test yet, but will soon, thanks a bunch for the info and figuring this out!...

I also have another GT720 on the way too (it was $30 shipped on eBay, couldn't pass it up!) got BIG plans for it!.. 

about getting sound on AVR im suppose you need extract EDID

here you have guide how to do it this - http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=Config_EDID_nvidia

The inclusion of the setting has fixed my issues, A+++ thanks!

Also, I couldn't just make/edit this file from Windows, had a permission/denied error.

I created this file from the console and used nano to put that string into it.

Do you happen to use a shared MYSQL database?

I have noticed at times this doesn't seem to load, having nothing come up in OE until reboot, and then all is well.

Maybe it doesn't wait long enough or something?

Just wanted to add that including the "enable_msi=1" setting seems to have solved all of my OE VM audio issues with my GT 730. I've been fighting with this for over a week so needless to say I'm VERY excited!!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

I know what MSI interrupts are, but can someone explain why this solves the audio issues in an OE unVM?

The inclusion of the setting has fixed my issues, A+++ thanks!

 

Also, I couldn't just make/edit this file from Windows, had a permission/denied error.

I created this file from the console and used nano to put that string into it.

 

Do you happen to use a shared MYSQL database?

I have noticed at times this doesn't seem to load, having nothing come up in OE until reboot, and then all is well.

 

Maybe it doesn't wait long enough or something?

There's a setting in OE to wait until network is up until boot, or it maybe you can set a fixed time to wait for the network before boot.

It's an issue on my bare metal OE machine as well.

There's a setting in OE to wait until network is up until boot, or it maybe you can set a fixed time to wait for the network before boot.

It's an issue on my bare metal OE machine as well.

I've never had it on either of my Pi's (v1 and v2), however awesome to know this should be an easy fix.

Thanks for the info!

I think parts of this thread should be added to the wiki or somewhere for others experiencing these issues to benefit from.

Looking more into the audio issues with OE and glad to see some of you figured out the fix already.

Curiosity has the best of me, so I must ask.

Why did you choose (there are 3 of you now) the GT 730 over the GT 720?

I can't see any tangible differences other than, extra cost, more power usage (minimal), extra heat, and a bigger cooler.

Maybe you plan to do some light gaming?

I'm not bashing, I'm glad it's working, I had just bought a 2nd one and you've got me curious.

Curiosity has the best of me, so I must ask.

 

Why did you choose (there are 3 of you now) the GT 730 over the GT 720?

I can't see any tangible differences other than, extra cost, more power usage (minimal), extra heat, and a bigger cooler.

Maybe you plan to do some light gaming?

 

I'm not bashing, I'm glad it's working, I had just bought a 2nd one and you've got me curious.

That's a good question and I did look into getting the GT 720, but I bought an EVGA GT 730 because it has UEFI on it. I'm not sure this makes any difference for unRAID, but when I was playing around with KVM before unRAID it was less hassle to use OVMF instead of seabios. 

But if someone can verify that a GT 720 works great with OpenELEC on unRAID then I might go with that because I need a small cooler due to my desire to use every available PCIe slot on my motherboard.

Curiosity has the best of me, so I must ask.

 

Why did you choose (there are 3 of you now) the GT 730 over the GT 720?

I can't see any tangible differences other than, extra cost, more power usage (minimal), extra heat, and a bigger cooler.

Maybe you plan to do some light gaming?

 

I'm not bashing, I'm glad it's working, I had just bought a 2nd one and you've got me curious.

 

That's a good question and I did look into getting the GT 720, but I bought an EVGA GT 730 because it has UEFI on it. I'm not sure this makes any difference for unRAID, but when I was playing around with KVM before unRAID it was less hassle to use OVMF instead of seabios. 

 

But if someone can verify that a GT 720 works great with OpenELEC on unRAID then I might go with that because I need a small cooler due to my desire to use every available PCIe slot on my motherboard.

OVMF works fine, using it with OE.

OVMF works fine, using it with OE.

And you're using a 720? If so, that's great news. Which exact brand/model are you using? I need to get another card for one more OE VM.

And you're using a 720? If so, that's great news. Which exact brand/model are you using? I need to get another card for one more OE VM.

You didn't want to read the O.P. did you?.. 

edit: Of note, remember that you can only have 1 active OVMF VM currently, see this thread here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=41769.msg397146#msg397146

We haven't added multi-OVMF VM support just yet.  This is on the to-do list.  Guess we'll have to bump it up the list since folks are actually using it now!

Anyhow it's an MSI silent edition, I believe it's one of the cheapest options on Newegg.

I picked it up for $40 shipped used.

I also ordered a reference one from eBay (I think it was actually made by Nvidia) recently, but haven't received it yet, it unfortunately has a small fan (boo!), however it was like ~$30 shipped, so whatever.

Also thanks for letting you know your use case with the 730!

Another member through PM had issues using his GT 730 under OE with Seabios, however worked great with OVMF.

I can verify though however that Win 8.1 w/Seabios on my GT 720 works perfectly.

And you're using a 720? If so, that's great news. Which exact brand/model are you using? I need to get another card for one more OE VM.

 

You didn't want to read the O.P. did you?.. 

 

I re-read the first post about 30 seconds after asking my question, but was too lazy to edit my post. 

I think I'll pick up a cheap 720.

Another member through PM had issues using his GT 730 under OE with Seabios, however worked great with OVMF.

I can verify though however that Win 8.1 w/Seabios on my GT 720 works perfectly.

Which nVidia driver are you using with this card?  i'm about to order one (based on your glowing review), and want to make sure I install the same driver, to assure a solid experience also.

Also; just to double-confirm - you can/have use(d) this GT 720 with Seabios & also with OVMF and both work fine; correct?

I want to update my windows8 VM to windows10 in the next week or so, and will build a new VM (but copy the working image) and want to move to OVMF when I do all this.

Thanks for the info

 

Which nVidia driver are you using with this card?  i'm about to order one (based on your glowing review), and want to make sure I install the same driver, to assure a solid experience also.

Whatever was the latest a week ago, so basically the newest.

Also; just to double-confirm - you can/have use(d) this GT 720 with Seabios & also with OVMF and both work fine; correct?

I have used my GT 720 (MSI Silent) as OVMF for OE, and SeaBIOS for Win 8.1, both surprisingly painless (minus the needed MSI interrupt for OE)

I want to update my windows8 VM to windows10 in the next week or so, and will build a new VM (but copy the working image) and want to move to OVMF when I do all this.

 

Thanks for the info

I look forward to seeing how Win10 does, I assume it will work out-of-the-box and surprise you as much as it has for me with my current testing.

----(not related to GT 720)----

I have started testing on my previous cards (they're just sitting here, G210 so far) and it CAN work, but it can also be a pain at times, driver install makes it freeze, etc...

gt210 are not supported by latest driver you must use legacy version

Also was topic on OE forum, about that and they special make another build with legacy nvidia driver version

gt210 are not supported by latest driver you must use legacy version

Also was topic on OE forum, about that and they special make another build with legacy nvidia driver version

Thanks, and was are of this (not the OE specific part).

If you try to install the latest driver, it says something like "no specific hardware found"...blah...blah.

However they did release a new legacy driver with today's date for this card to have Windows 10 support, which I thought was nice of them!

The 340.52 driver works better than the most recent legacy driver for install, however past that they're likely about the same. Once you hard reboot Win 8.1 (both freeze at some point in the install period) it seems to work fine, possibly a little laggy/latency issues, but survive plenty of reboots/power downs which is important. Without passing the rom file this is absolutely not the case!

Also; just to double-confirm - you can/have use(d) this GT 720 with Seabios & also with OVMF and both work fine; correct?

I just tested OE with SeaBIOS (previously did OVMF), and it works perfectly fine... reboot, powerdown, etc...

Also; just to double-confirm - you can/have use(d) this GT 720 with Seabios & also with OVMF and both work fine; correct?

 

I just tested OE with SeaBIOS (previously did OVMF), and it works perfectly fine... reboot, powerdown, etc...

Very cool. I hope to have my card soon.

I have a EVGA GT 720 card and video works perfectly but for the life of my cannot get sound to work. Tried all the fixes in this thread and the interface detects my receiver through HDMI. Just no sound is played at all.

I have a EVGA GT 720 card and video works perfectly but for the life of my cannot get sound to work. Tried all the fixes in this thread and the interface detects my receiver through HDMI. Just no sound is played at all.

Under what system, OE?

I'm not using a receiver, but in OE I had to change the audio output under setting, system, audio output to the HDMI one that listed my device name in the title, it was something HDMI Toshiba, then sound worked.